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Cricket fans will be able to watch all New Zealand's World Cup matches live on television.

Director of sport for Sky Television Kevin Cameron yesterday confirmed that a deal had been reached by the network for live coverage of all the Black Caps' games in the tournament, which begins in England on May 14, and ends with the final at Lords on June 20.

The package includes live coverage of the semi-finals and the final.

``The cricket World Cup looks set to be an exciting series and is an important addition to our cricket schedule,'' Cameron said.

Earlier, live coverage of the World Cup seemed to be in jeopardy after the English Cricket Board asked for $4.6 million for the rights, a figure which quickly eliminated TVNZ and TV3.

Sky will replay the last two hours of all New Zealand games between 6am and 8am during the week.

As a bonus, the pay-TV network has also secured rights to screen daily 45min highlight packages of the four-match cricket test series between New Zealand and England after the World Cup.

Rugby fans also have cause to celebrate after Sky announced yesterday that it had struck a reciprocal deal with TVNZ to broadcast live all 41 matches in the fourth rugby World Cup in Britain in October-November this year. TVNZ, which won the rights, will also show the games live, giving viewers the rare choice of watching on free-to-air or pay TV.

The commercial difficulties over live coverage of the Formula One world championship motor racing, however, remain unresolved. Sky is waiting for a reply from the Formula One Administration to its most recent letter.